My daughter loves the beach, playing in the sand, collecting sea shells and dipping her toes in the water. I was fortunate to recently have the opportunity to share this joy with her during our Christmas holiday at the beach.
Sometimes it’s easily forget how important it is for our children to connect to mother nature.
My daughter reminded me that day . . .
That play can come be created from simple things, like the sticks and shells she found at the beach.
Her creation was magnificent and reminded me to stop and admire the beauty, breathe in the sea air and take pleasure in the simple things in life.
Sometimes it’s our children that teach us life’s most important lessons.
With only a week left until Christmas, it is such an exciting time for many people, including our family. However I really struggle to accept the unnecessary waste and over consumption that happens during this festive season.
There was once a time when I used to stressfully wander around shopping centres trying to find the perfect present for someone who had everything. That is until I went to Africa, and then my life changed forever. I couldn’t forgot the memories of the severe poverty I had seen and the knowledge that so many children still die from hunger and preventable diseases (one child every 3 seconds)! We live in a society where the more you own, the better off you are but I don’t agree with that. Money doesn’t necessarily bring us happiness and we are made to believe that we need so much more than we really do need. Kids these days want it all, the latest new gadgets and branded new toys, all shiny, plastic, noisy and overstimulating, but there is often little or no thought about how or where these toys are made .
It seems so unfair, so unecessary and although I still really struggle to keep up the Christmas tradition in our family of giving presents, as a family we have sat down and discussed what we want Christmas to mean to us and most importantly to our our daughter Safari.
We believe that Christmas is a time to come together as a community of family and friends and celebrate the love we share for another, but not at the expense of the planet, its people and most importantly our child’s future.
What’s the point of getting a present when a child in a third world country has been forced to work in horrific conditions making it?
What’s the point of eating a lavish meal when we aren’t supporting our local farmers, instead supporting large supermarket chains that use poisonous chemicals and pesticides to produce their food?
So we decided that we would only buy sustainable, handmade and fair trade gifts to do our bit to make this world a better place.
Last year my wonderful husband built some planter boxes from recycled timber lying around and we planted herbs and veggies and gave one to each family. I hand sewed a doll for my nephew out of his old but favourite pajama’s and I made a picture from natural materials for another friend’s boy for his room.
For gift wrapping we recycled some old cardboard boxes (as you can imagine we have plenty lying around) and my gorgeous girl (yes that’s her!) had an absolute ball painting and decorating them. There was no need to buy cards as we simply just wrote on the boxes.
This year we have done the same and only bought gifts that are sustainable and won’t end up in landfills.
We have a beautiful native Australian Christmas tree in our home that we bought last year and have had the pleasure of watching it grow as it has almost doubled in size! We decorated it with lovely handmade wool felt decorations made by women in Nepal and decorated our home with hanging mobiles made from recycled newspaper and natural things we have found on our property.
Not only has our home come alive with the natural smells and things collected from our land, our daughter has had such a fun time making them with us. Once the tree is too big to stay in a pot we will plant in in our garden to grow and flourish.
We also sponsor a boy from Tanzania through the World Vision sponsor a child program so we know that we are contributing towards helping another family and community become self sufficient and have the opportunity for a better life. We have his picture next to our Christmas tree as a reminder that we can all do something to make this world a better place.
One day when Safari is old enough we will visit him so she can experience their rich culture without all the materialistic needs that our society places so much emphasise on.
So to us Christmas is about sharing and giving from within our hearts and hopefully Safari will learn that Christmas isn’t about how much you spend, it’s about the joy we spread to other people’s lives.
Check out ‘The story of stuff’, a fantastic documentary on consumerism and damage it causes to our planet.
I believe that we all can make a difference and with change comes a more compassionate and caring society and a happier planet for our children. You don’t have to give up the joy of Christmas but your choices can go a long way!
Eco Toys is proud to introduced a whole new & exciting range of environmentally friendly toys to our store!
Plan Toys is the first green toy company to manufacturer toys from organic & untreated rubber-wood and use solar energy and low emission bio-fuels to power their machinery. They have won numerous awards for their toys that inspire children’s imagination and promote their physical and intellectual development.
As well as producing high quality, eco friendly toys they focus on toys that teach children about sustainable living. Children can now have hours of fun creating and living in their very own Eco Town that has environmentally friendly transportation and buildings. You buy the accessories separately or purchase it all together and save over $50!
Other awarding winning toys & best sellers are the Plan Toys Parking Garage which won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award in 2008 & Education.com A+ Award
Winner ofHomeschool.com’s Best Educational Gift Award
Education.com A+ Award
To read more about Plan toys or to view their entire range of toys, check out our new imaginative play category which is sure to inspire and delight any parent! I know their fantastic range of products has really impressed me as a parent who wants beautiful, eco friendly toys for her child.
My girls first eyed off this lovely wooden birthday cake a little before their fourth birthday. They excitedly declared that if they were lucky enough to own the birthday cake, they would be able to have their birthday every single day! True to their word, there has been many a party in our house since the cake arrived!
I’ve been invited to the party on several occasions and joined in the imaginative play in my role as guest, and even occasionally as the birthday girl! There is often much early preparation for the party - cooking of food, the table set with a fancy table cloth and flowers, many drinks poured and then finally the cake. Singing and blowing out of candles, followed by a few ‘hip hip hoorays!’ are mandatory.
The imaginative play and role playing this toy inspires is wonderful. It’s also been a fabulous way for those who’s birthday is not coming up to work through their emotions and feel a little less left out. Of course there can not be imaginative play with friends and siblings without social learning. Working out who’s turn it is to have a birthday, or how they might share the cake and party is always important.
Without even realising it, they are learning so many skills while playing with the birthday cake. Maths and number concepts such as how many candles to put on, and how to cut up the cake so everyone gets an equal share. Colour recognition when deciding which candle goes where. Practising and developing their small muscle (fine motor) skills while cutting the cake and placing the decorations. Using their imaginative and creative thinking and practising life skills.
Plus we always sing when the cake comes out, and not just Happy Birthday! Our favourite cake song is Three Little Candles, a lovely action and counting song everyone enjoys.
Three Little Candles
Three little candles standing tall,
(Hold up three (or more) fingers or put three candles on the cake)
Burning brightly count them all…
Phhhh (blow)
We blow with all our might!
And out goes one little candle light!
(put one finger down or take one candle away)
Continue to sing until all candles have been blown out.
Good morning & welcome to the first day of Spring! There’s nothing more satisfying than growing your own veggie garden with your kids. Why not head into the garden today and let them get back to nature?
I remember the sheer delight on Safari’s face the first time she ever saw a worm . . .
Or when she sat in the garden and picked the cherry tomatoes straight from the plant and ate them until she was full.
I remember the feeling of freedom as I watched her playing in the sunshine without a nappy
Or when she got her first gardening set and happily spent all day digging in the dirt.
There are so many benefits to growing your own veggie garden, kids spend so much time in front of the TV or playing computer games that they loose sense of their real world so let them get dirty and enjoy the first day of spring today!
Check out this great link for some organic gardening tips.
Have you ever noticed when you come home from shopping how much packaging you have? Cut down on packaging by buying fresh fruit & veggies (or better still grow your own!). Eating fresh & raw food is much healthier for you. No need to put them in plastic bags either, you can just put them straight into your green shopping bag.
Play is central to every facet of a child’s development, yet it is often overlooked and regarded by many as unimportant. In today’s fast paced world we seem to value tests scores and academic success at a younger and younger age loosing site of the foundation upon which all learning is built - play.
The benefits of play encompass all areas of a child’s development and carry over into all areas of adult life.
Young children learn best when allowed to play freely at activities of their own choosing. When a child is allowed time to explore, create and experiment freely with adult support (rather than adult direction) they develop the skills needed to succeed in life.
Through play, children learn complex social skills, such as sharing, taking turns, and making friends. They develop confidence, are able to process and express their feelings, and work through difficult situations in a safe way. Play encourages problem solving, creative thinking, versatility, imagination and inventiveness - all traits that are valued in the adult workforce. Play builds the cognitive skills needed to learn later academic skills such as reading, writing, numeracy, science and more. Play encourages language, communication skills and creativity. Play allows a child to blossom and grow into an active learner.
We all want our children to be successful and competent in our complex, fast paced world, and one of the best ways to prepare a child for this world is by simply letting them play…. or better yet, follow their lead, join in and play with them!
Article kindly written by Kate Fairlie, photos courtesy of Barefoot magazine.
I want to share with you a favourite little place of mine tucked away in the heart of Brunswick. Its CERES (Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies) which is an environmental park that has a fantastic organic market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
Safari and I have been going to Ceres for the past year and half on a Wednesday and we always have such a wonderful time catching up with friends.
The organic market area is always buzzing with a warm and inviting community atmosphere. Its colourful, its happy, the musicians play in the corner next to the coffee machine and Safari helps me put organic vegetables in the basket. There are chickens roaming around and a sheep which Safari loves to say hello to. She makes friends and happily plays with the other kids, amongst the chickens and organic food. I honestly couldn’t think of a more enriching place for my daughter to spend her day!
After we do our shopping we head down to the Ceres cafe to meet up with friends. Safari loves playing in the sand pit and takes her shoes off so she can feel the sand between her toes.
We sip on chai tea and share our stories with one another. Today little Charlie was there looking gorgeous as ever and happily chewing on her nature rattle that I couldn’t resist taking a photo.
I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful network of women that meet every week at Ceres. Spending time with them nurtures my spirit and I leave feeling so fulfilled, like one of them recently said “I come away feeling like I’ve just done yoga!”.
So if you haven’t been to Ceres then you must check it out and if your a parent wanting to meet other like-minded parents then come along on a Wednesday and you’re sure to meet some lovely people and might even see us on the corner table near the sandpit, come and say hello!
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